I lean back into his chest and giggle. “Considering we are naked more than not, I think it’s a good rule. I approve.” I never thought I would ever be this comfortable naked around a man, but everything comes so naturally with Vander that my nakedness barely registers anymore.
His muscular arms wrap around my waist as he nuzzles my neck. “I did some research too.”
I lean back and look up at him as I shovel the last of the potatoes into his mouth. “You did?”
He nods, and I wait for him to finish eating before he replies. “I wanted to find out if there are other couples like us, and there are tons.” Removing the fork from my fingers, he drops it on the empty plates and pushes them aside. “It’s more common than you think.”
“I know.” I spin around in my underwear facing him. “Did you read about Juliet Mills and Maxwell Caulfield?” Reading about their love brought tears to my eyes. If any couple inspires me and offers hope, it’s them.
He tweaks my nose. “I did. They seemed most similar to us. There’s an eighteen-year difference between them, and they married a few months after meeting on the US tour ofThe Elephant Man. He was only twenty-one and she was thirty-nine with two failed marriages behind her. She had kids too. They’ve defied all their critics, and they’ve been happily married for thirty-eight years.”
“It was love at first sight, and they believe in soul mates too,” I add.
“Nothing is impossible.” He brushes his fingers over my face and my neck, sweeping his hands across my collarbone, lighting an inferno in his wake.
“I’m not concerned about our age difference anymore,” I truthfully explain. “It doesn’t matter. Not when we connect on this level.” I trace the tattoos on his upper chest with my finger, careful not to touch his Ouroboros because it’s still raised and red-rimmed, like my own ink. “I don’t even care what other people will say. Fuck them.”
He rises, grinning as he pulls me to my feet. “We’re knocking those barriers down, one by one.” Taking my hand, he leads me to his studio.
“The only thing that matters is my children and how they will react. Especially West. That is all I’m worried about now.”
Vander switches the light on in his studio as we enter that side of the apartment. “They will come around in time,” he says, reeling me into his arms. I wrap my arms around his bare waist and press my lips to his chest. He tilts my chin up with his finger. “Does this mean you’re in this for the long haul?”
“We said six months and then we’d reassess.” I remind him, running my fingers over his gorgeous mouth. “But I don’t need to wait six months. I know what I want, and it’s you. It will always be you.”
He envelops me in his arms, almost hugging me to death. “You make me so happy, Kendall,” he whispers. “I want to dance in the rain with you, sleep out under the stars, and shout my love from the highest mountain so no one doubts the depth of my feelings for you.”
“You make me happy too, and I want to explore the world with you. I want to visit the Parthenon in Athens, return to Egypt and find our river, freeze our butts off in Ireland, and watch the All Blacks perform the haka in New Zealand. I want to hold your hand as you build your dreams and paint rainbows in the sky.”
Grabbing my face, he kisses me deeply and slowly, and I swoon against him. When we break for air, we stare at one another, communicating with our hearts and minds, not needing words to convey everything we are feeling. “This is insane,” I whisper, planting my lips on the inside of his wrist. “But insanity has never felt so normal.”
37
VANDER
“Draw me like one of your French girls,” Kendall says, standing in front of me in her lacy, white underwear, dangling a silver necklace with a big blue heart locket from her finger.
“And how is that?” I ask though I have an inkling of what she means.
“Have you ever watched the movieTitanic?”
I shake my head. I’m seriously lacking on the chick-flick front because I’ve never had a girlfriend, I rarely date, and I don’t have any sisters.
“Blasphemy,” she jokes, walking slowly toward me, sashaying her hips in a way that has my cock jumping in my sweatpants. “We need to rectify that sometime, but right now, it means I want you to paint me wearing this.” She jiggles the necklace still hanging from her finger as she bats her eyelashes at me. “And only this.” She enunciates the words, and it’s sexy as all get out. I’m two seconds away from ravishing her on the floor when she steps back, waggling her finger in my face. “Nuh-uh. No sex until after you draw me in the nude.”
“Babe.” I groan, rubbing my throbbing dick. “Don’t torture me.”
“You’re a tortured artist. You need to suffer for your art,” she purrs, pointing at the chaise longue at the back of my studio. “Pull that into the middle of the room.”
As I comply with her demands, something occurs to me. “You made me buy this on purpose.”
A satisfied grin curves over her mouth. “I did. I guess I should confess,” she says, walking toward me and dropping a few coins in my hand. I stare at her in confusion. “For the portrait.” She leans in and brushes her mouth against mine in a tantalizingly slow manner, leaving me panting like a dog. She unclips her bra and tosses it aside. “The instant you said you wanted me to pose for you, I thought of the scene inTitanic. It’s so erotic and romantic, and every time I watch that movie, I wish it was me.” Her cheeks stain a rosy-pink color as she shimmies her panties down her slim legs. She strides toward me, buck-ass naked, completely confident, and utterly regal. Her gorgeous blue eyes glisten with emotion as she steps up to me, placing her hand on my chest. “I never thought I’d get to do something like this. I never thought I’d have the balls to strip in front of any man, under the glare of spotlights, let alone pose for a drawing, but I’m not ashamed to do this.” She kisses the corner of my mouth. “Because you are giving me back my confidence, Vander, and you make me feel beautiful.”
“Youarebeautiful.” I peruse her body slowly, loving what I see. “You’re exquisite, Kendall. Like a delicate bloom flourishing and coming to life before my eyes. I can’t take my eyes off you. You are all I see.”
“I love you, painter boy.” She kisses the other corner of my mouth before swatting my ass. “Now get to work.” I watch as she crawls onto the chaise longue and props herself on her side with her head on the armrest, one arm thrown up behind her and her hand beside her face. “Put the necklace on me,” she demands, and her bossy tone cranks my arousal to the max. It’ll be a miracle if I can get my hands to stop shaking long enough to draw her.
I fix the necklace around her neck, positioning it in the crevice between her pretty tits. She swats my hand away when I cop a cheeky feel, warning me to keep my hands to myself. When I have her posed just right, I ask permission to snap a few pics to reference later when I’m finishing the painting. Kendall agrees, and after taking a few shots, I put some music on in the background, pull my chair over, and settle down to draw her.
